SeaTac man sentenced to life for 2021 Des Moines triple murder

A 47-year-old SeaTac man was sentenced to life without parole for the 2021 triple murder outside a Des Moines bar.

Joshua Puloka, aka Joshua Everybodytalksabout, received his sentence Friday, June 21, from King County Superior Court Judge LeRoy McCullough at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office.

Puloka was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault.

A jury convicted Puloka on May 2 for the Sept. 26, 2021, shooting outside La Familia sports bar, 22855 Pacific Highway S., just north of Kent.

Ezra Taylor, 26; Antoine Matthews, 32 years old; and Angelia Hylton, 46, died in the shooting. Two other men were shot and injured. Family members of Taylor, Matthews and Hylton attended the sentencing.

“Justice has been served in this case – justice for Antoine Matthews, Angelia Hylton and Ezra Taylor who were murdered, justice for the other two surviving gunshot victims, justice for their families and justice for the entire County of King,” King County said. Attorney General Leesa Manion after the jury's verdict in May.

Puloka was subject to the third strike law due to two prior felony convictions.

Des Moines police detectives used surveillance video, cell phone video and witness statements that led to Puloka's arrest. An argument inside the bar spilled outside and led to fights in the parking lot and shootings, according to charging documents.

“The defendant is videotaped during an altercation in the parking lot of La Familia sports bar,” Jennifer Petersen, Senior Assistant District Attorney, wrote in charging documents. “The parking lot was crowded with customers who had gathered after the bar closed. The victim Antoine Matthews swings once towards the defendant and the latter falls backwards.

“The accused starts shooting as he falls. The defendant continued shooting even as Matthews fled. The defendant continued to fire his gun into the crowded parking lot, causing several victims.

Matthews was hit twice in the back. Hylton, an innocent bystander, was shot in the back. Taylor, an innocent bystander, was shot in the back of the head.

A small group of people, including Puloka, gathered along Pacific Highway South, where fighting continued and shots were later fired. Police recovered 31 shell casings at the scene. The Washington State Patrol crime lab and a medical examiner concluded that all of the rounds recovered from the three people killed came from the same 9mm Luger firearm.

Puloka wore a “Rare Breed” motorcycle vest which helped detectives identify him.

Puloka turned himself in on October 25, 2021 after Des Moines police issued a press release saying they were seeking him as a suspect in the shooting.

In a few previous cases, Puloka pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in 1999 after meeting a man to sell him two kilos of cocaine for $35,000. Puloka instead tried to rob the man and when the man ran away, Puloka fired five shots and killed him. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2003.

Puloka was convicted of third-degree assault with an enhanced firearm in a 2014 shooting outside a Seattle bar. A jury acquitted him of second-degree murder in that case despite claiming self-defense. He was sentenced to 54 months in prison.

Puloka has a long list of juvenile convictions, including escape and theft. He has 18 adult misdemeanor convictions and 25 misdemeanor convictions.